Here’s what I’m trying to do: I’m trying to stay away from Marvel and DC comics for the reviews I do, because they get enough attention already. Some things just can’t be ignored, such as DC’s Convergence and Marve’s Secret Wars, but when I can—and that’s going to be most of the time—I try to go off their well-beaten path.

I don’t do a deep dive into comiXology Submit. It’s basically what’s been out the past week (and that I didn’t edit, or that ComixTribe didn’t publish). The reason for that is because I’m basically lazy and I don’t want to do too much to find a book to review.

But when I look at what’s available, the books that are there don’t interest me enough to want to read, let alone reward the creators with buying it, and those that do interest me a smidgeon are sometimes more expensive than I want to pay. Rock, hard place.

I don’t believe I’m asking for a lot. Decent art. The art doesn’t have to be great, it just has to be decent. Proportions and planes and anatomy. I’m not an artist, I know, but some creators who are calling themselves artists really aren’t artists, either.

Decent coloring. Again, it doesn’t have to be great. It just has to be serviceable. Hopefully, more was paid on the artist than the colorist, if anyone was paid at all.

Decent lettering. It doesn’t have to be great, but there are some things that just need to be fixed. Balloon tails need to point at mouths. Crossbar I’s need to be changed to regular I’s except for the personal pronoun. The font needs to be legible. (If the P can be mistaken for a D, then more than likely the wrong font was chosen.)

Decent story. The story doesn’t need to be great (although that would help), but it needs to be engaging. At least a little interesting. It can be a story we’ve all seen time and again, but if told interestingly and be engaging, then the reader will forgive a lot.

There are just a lot of bad comics that are on Submit. Submit has lowered the barrier of entry for creators, which is a good thing for some. However, the signal to noise ratio is getting ever lower because of the subpar comics that are being put on this digital platform. At least with Diamond you knew you were getting a comic with some sort of quality to it. There’s no vetting or curation on Submit. Those creators may believe that’s a good thing for them, but really, they’re just hurting themselves because the books aren’t yet ready.

While Submit has been something of a game changer, the question has to be asked if this was for good or ill.